Reflections

Regarding that things are not like this; that is just the way they are now

“Things are not like this, that is the way they are now,” said Paulo Freire when in the unequal world he lived, there seemed to be no way out. He said that to search for transformation, to denaturalize oppression, to know that there is neither eternal domination as long as both resistance and liberation are thought and built, nor ideas that can be annihilated when the fire of beliefs keeps them alive.

Cynthia Ottaviano

 

Regarding colonial racism

“I say that the British is the best race of the whole world,” said Cecil Rhodes in a phrase that became famous “and as long as there are more places where we live in, then larger will be the benefit for humanity.” George Nathaniel Curzon, India’s eleventh viceroy, agreed with Rhodes. “There has never been something similar,” he wrote, “something as magnificent in the world’s history as the British Empire, an instrument so big for the wellbeing of humanity. We should devote all of our energies and existences to keep it alive.” When asked why there was no native Indian employed in India’s government, he answered: “Because among all the 300 million people that live in the subcontinent, there was not a single man capable of doing his job well.”

Wade Davis

 

Regarding Pope Francis

I love Pope Francis. Though I am not Catholic, he has put on the table the most important issues: immigration, wars, environment, and child abuse. No other political leader talks about these types of things. He is a fearless man and for that we need him.

Patti Smith